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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

Well I guess we two Mother Hens (myself and Olek) can now rest a little easier:

Wow. Salaried, AND benefits, and they actually don't want you having access at all hours! What's that I smell? It's the GRAVYTRAIN.Well, maybe that's an exaggeration, but some of us are gittin' a bit jealous!

Having the willing advice and record sharing from the former technician is really a boon! Who knows? Beyond that, he may be able to help you train your Humble And Lowly Indentured Assistant, brow beaten and bent over as he may become, to also become a good technician. Give the retiree some time to get bored. You can simply mention the idea lightly in passing for now. Considering the pace at which he has probably worked, he may be planning on keeping some private customers. If so, he could probably use a few hours help here and there from your HALIA [pronounced hah_lee_'ah] to get his own action work done. Ergo: Retiree helps you train him and benefits his own retirement period work as well.

NOTE TO ALL: Feeble attempts at humor may be found in this post.

Some words defined per Olek's own previous confession: Olekization: Humble And Lowly Indentured Assistant, brow beaten and bent over as he may become. The process of HALIA modification.Olekizombee or Olekizoid: : one who has become the above; synonym for the HALIA

There's one other mother hen who precedes both of you: Rontuner. He's the mother of all hens in my world...

Not only salaried and benefits, but CALPIRS, no less.I think volume alone keeps it from being a gravy train, but I appreciate the sentiment. I'll let you know if the jealousy is justified...The retiree does have his own business, and his website is still up, so I think he's still a going concern. I'm not going to identify him publicly without his permission.HALIA. I'm going to tell him that one. He'll have to start hanging out here before he'd get Olekization, Olekizombee, or Olekizoid...

I've found institutional work to be so inspirational for research projects! I've focused a lot on temperaments and electronic tuning devices, but being able to follow up on the same instruments allows for a lot of data-gathering if a tech is interested - tuning stability, different order of tuning, hammer technique, efficiency, repair techniques -

It helps to be able to thrive in chaos...

Most of the long-time college and university techs put limits on the number of tunings per day - not only is it good to do cleaning, voicing and action work, but it keeps a tech from burning out. It's a marathon, not a sprint!

I've found institutional work to be so inspirational for research projects! I've focused a lot on temperaments and electronic tuning devices, but being able to follow up on the same instruments allows for a lot of data-gathering if a tech is interested - tuning stability, different order of tuning, hammer technique, efficiency, repair techniques -

It helps to be able to thrive in chaos...

Most of the long-time college and university techs put limits on the number of tunings per day - not only is it good to do cleaning, voicing and action work, but it keeps a tech from burning out. It's a marathon, not a sprint!

Congrats again

Ron Koval

Thank you again!

Yes, I was thinking along those lines, too, once I get the routine worked out. An enormous field of test subjects... :evil:

I have a feeling there won't be many instances where I tune more than 2 or 3 pianos at one site - *if* there are more than 1 to tune, so I imagine the number of tunings I do in a day will be self-limiting due to logistics.

I spent a couple of hours this morning being indoctrinated, then I had a little time to get acquainted with my shop:

It turns out the shop was moved right about the time my predecessor retired. Everything was just kind of slammed in here, and nothing is organized. I also have six studio uprights keeping me company. AFAICT, they are homeless, except for one, possibly.

There is one rollaway cabinet of drawers and one parts bin-type (in the far corner in the photo) that have mostly piano supplies (and some autoharp - it seems that's another instrument I'll be caring for), and then that back wall of shelves. Also, a couple of rolling cabinets. All containing a hodgepodge jumble of parts in no particular order.

Most of the parts are from APSCO. How long ago did Schaff buy them out???

After exploring my shop, I went to a site and tuned my first two pianos for the district. It turns out that if I average two pianos a day, my superiors will be thrilled. They'll probably go into shock if I average more than that.

As it is, there are ten pianos that need immediate attention, and another 46 with work requests pending. I'll be gainfully employed...

Currently, there is no regulating or workbench in the shop, but I was told they would get me one if it turns out I need it.

I was told that if I average two pianos a day, they'll be thrilled. If my day tomorrow goes as planned, I'll finish five.

After exploring my shop, I went to a site and tuned my first two pianos for the district. It turns out that if I average two pianos a day, my superiors will be thrilled. They'll probably go into shock if I average more than that.

I said it first:

It's the GRAVY TRAIN ! CHOOGAH, CHOOGAH, CHOO.

What is your Humble And Lowly Indentured Assistant to do!? Will he be sequestered?

After exploring my shop, I went to a site and tuned my first two pianos for the district. It turns out that if I average two pianos a day, my superiors will be thrilled. They'll probably go into shock if I average more than that.

I said it first:

It's the GRAVY TRAIN ! CHOOGAH, CHOOGAH, CHOO.

What is your Humble And Lowly Indentured Assistant to do!? Will he be sequestered?

Phil, you are *so* cracking me up!

My average will indeed be higher than that. I tuned four at one site this morning. The HALIA - should it come to that - will have gainful employment.

My goal is to clear all 56 work requests by the end of the school year - 6-1/2 weeks.

I do not undertand how you will make 56 repairs in so little time, knowing pino schools well, a structure with only one tech cannot have the pianos in condition to be "repaired" in a few hours each. You will begin to glue mortises, change th centers, reshape hammers...

Goo luck . Do you have a vacuum , BTW .. Anyway you will certainly learn a lot of things on those school jobs. How to make a piano playeable in very little time for instance, tunings that hold to the max , etc

_________________________
Professional of the profession. Foo Foo specialistI wish to add some kind and sensitive phrase but nothing comes to mind.!

Of course you will need a work bench for regulating and repairs. Unless there are more tools than pictured, I hope there is a tool budget......a rather large one. I don't see a belt sander, drill press, vacuum, air compressor, something to clean dust out of the air, computer, height adjustable stool, mechanics crawler, piano dolly, piano tipper, hoist for plate pulling....the list goes on and on. This is a cool opportunity, but you are starting from scratch in a new space. I hope that salary is based on 80 hours per week, at least initially!

Of course you will need a work bench for regulating and repairs. Unless there are more tools than pictured, I hope there is a tool budget......a rather large one. I don't see a belt sander, drill press, vacuum, air compressor, something to clean dust out of the air, computer, height adjustable stool, mechanics crawler, piano dolly, piano tipper, hoist for plate pulling....the list goes on and on. This is a cool opportunity, but you are starting from scratch in a new space. I hope that salary is based on 80 hours per week, at least initially!

This is a tuning and minor repair position, not rebuilding. All those tools would be padding the budget, which is not fair to the children nor the taxpayers.